Arrangement for the feeding and cutting off of a packing material web

ABSTRACT

In an apparatus for the feeding and cutting off of a length of precreased packing material web advantage is taken of the principle that the web is fed over a mandrel provided with a number of edges spaced apart by a distance corresponding to the distance between two adjacent creases. The device for cutting the web is in a fixed position on the mandrel.

United States Patent 1 Palsson Dec. 30, 1975 1 ARRANGEMENT FOR THE FEEDING AND CUTTING OFF OF A PACKING MATERIAL WEB [75] Inventor: Jan Pfilsson, Lund, Sweden [73] Assignee: AB Ziristor, Lund, Sweden [22] Filed: Aug. 26, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 500,758

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 14, 1973 Sweden 73125346 [52] U.S. Cl. 83/323; 83/346; 83/418;

[51] Int. Cl? B26D 1/56 [58] Field of Search 83/98, 99, 100, 152, 322, 83/323, 343, 346, 347, 423, 434, 418

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 989,647 4/1911 Sanneman et a1. 83/423 X 2,128,746 8/1938 Joa 83/152 X 2,341,503 2/1944 Bombard i 83/346 X 2,341,956 2/1944 Staude 83/346 X 2,383,523 8/1945 Thornburgh 83/152 X 3,338,124 8/1967 Palle 1 83/152 3,425,307 2/1969 Doerman 83/346 3,577,293 5/1971 Ritterhoff 83/343 X 3,628,408 12/1971 Rod 83/423 X Primary Examiner-J. M. Meister Assistant Examiner-Fred A. Silverberg Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Pierce, Scheffler & Parker 57 ABSTRACT In an apparatus for the feeding and cutting off of a length of precreased packing material web advantage is taken of the principle that the web is fed over a mandrel provided with a number of edges spaced apart by a distance corresponding to the distance between'two adjacent creases. The device for cutting the web is in a fixed position on the mandrel.

4 Claims, Drawing Figures US. Patent Dec. 30, 1975 Sheet 1 of4 3,929,045

US. Patent Dec. 30, 1975 Sheet 2 of4 3,929,045

US. Patent Dec. 30, 1975 Sheet 3 of4 3,929,045

ARRANGEMENT FOR THE FEEDING AND CUTTING OFF OF A PACKING MATERIAL WEB The present invention relates to-an arrangement for the feeding and cutting-off of a precreased packing material web, comprising a rotating feeding mandrel, a rotating roller placed parallel with the feeding mandrel, a number of driving means and a cutting-off device.

In the manufacturing process for packing containers, formed in that in a packing machine a precreased packing material web is cut and folded in the creases to a tube, there is a need for the packing material web to -be able in a simple manner to be fed forward andbe cut into parts of exactly the same length.

In the manufacture of the said .containers,.the package was formed until now into a tube in the packing material factories by creasing, cuttingoff and glueing. The feeding and cutting-off take place in machines designed for this purpose, the packing material being fed from rolls and being cut off at the same time as the individual blanks are being creased. Afterthe creasing the sheet is folded to a tube and is glued, the edge zones of the sheet being made to overlap one another. The packing material which has undergone this operation takes up much room and consequently freight and storage costs are very high.

To overcome the said disadvantage, attempts have been made to supply the packing material in a precreased web, the material being cut off and glued in the packing machine. In this method of manufacture it is very important that the packing material should be cut off correctly ih relation to the creases, since the cut-off sheet cannot be formed to a tube, if thecut is wrong in relation to the creases.

The said disadvantages are overcome through the invention which is based on the principle that the packing material web is fed over amandrelwhich is provided with a number of edges, the mutual distance of which corresponds to the distance between the creases. By making the creases so as to coincide with the said edges, and owing to the cuttingoff device being given a fixed position on the mandrel, the web will be cut off all the time at the same place in relation to the creases of the web.

The invention is characterized in that the said feeding mandrel has a number of mutually parallel edges, between which the feeding mandrel is provided with winding spaces whose length corresponds to the distance between the creases of the precreased packing material web.

In the following the invention will be described with reference to the enclosed schematic drawings, in which FIGS. 1-6 show a feeding mandrel in accordance with the invention in different positions during the feeding of a packing material web,

FIG. 7 shows a package blank, and

FIGS. 8 and 9 show variants of a feeding mandrel.

FIG. 1 shows a feeding and cutting-off arrangment for a packing material web, which arrangement comprises a mandrel l which is provided with a number of plane sides 4, 5, 6 and a curved side 7, driving means 3, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, a cutting-off device with a counterpressure plate 9, a rotating roller 8 placed parallel with the mandrel and a pair of rollers l0, 11, through which passes the packing material web 16 in order to obtain sufficient tension.

0 coincide with the edges of the mandrel l2, l3, l4, l5.

Moreover the cut edge 26 of the material web shall be placed in conjunction with the knife 2. When the web is brought onto the mandrel 1 in the abovementioned manner, the drivers are made to come into operation at the'same time as the mandrel 1 and the roller 8 commence their rotating movement. Suitable driving means are in this connection suction heads, which by means of a valve can be connected on the one hand to a source of vacuum and on the other hand to the atmosphere. In a first stage it is appropriate for the suction heads 28,

29, 30 to come into operation, whereby the packing material is caused to rest tightly against the side 6 of the mandrel whilst it is moreover drawn in against the side 5. Owing to the packing material web 16 being sucked firmly. by the driving means against the sides of the mandrel, it is prevented that the web slides against the mandrel and so causes the creases not to coincide with the edges of the mandrel 12, 13, 14, 15.

As the mandrel continues to rotate it will assume the positionshown in FIG. 2. In this position the drivers 28, 29, 34 are connected to a source of vacuum, the material web being in contact wholly or partly with the sides 5 and 6 of the mandrel. The roller 8 rotates synchronouslywith the mandrel, the counter pressure plate 9 moving one revolution at the same time as the mandrel has completed one revolution. After further rotation the mandrel assumes the position shown in FIG. 3. In this position the driving means 3, 28, 33, 34 are connected to a source of vacuum and the remaining driving means 29, 30, 31, 32 are connected to the atmosphere. The packing material web will now be in contact with the sides 4, 5 of the mandrel. When the mandrel has assumed the position shown in FIG. 3 is has fed forward the surfaces 19, 20 shown in FIG. 7.

On further rotation of the mandrel l the driving means 28, 34 are connected to the atmosphere, the packing material web 16 detaching itself from the side 5 of the feeding mandrel as shown in FIG. 4. In order to prevent the material web 16 from sliding on the mandrel when the suction heads 28, 34 are connected to the atmosphere, the suction head 32 is connected to a source of vacuum, the web 16 being made to rest against parts of the dished side 7 of the mandrel. In the position shown in FIG. 5 the packing material web is in contact with the whole of the dished side 7 of the mandrel, the driving means 31 also being cut in. When the dished side of the feeding mandrel is covered by the material web 16, the knife 2 fitted in the mandrel is touched by the said material web. In FIG. 6 is shown the position which the feeding mandrel assumes immediately before a package blank is cut off from the packing material web 16. The roller 8 and the feeding mandrel 1, which have rotated synchronously, are given such a position at this stage that the knife 2 and the counterpressure roller provided in the roller 8 are placed right opposite one another, the counterpressure roller pressing the packing material web 16 against the knife 2 with the object of cutting off the web. In this position the driving means 29, 30, 31, 32 are connected to a source of vacuum, which prevents the material web from sliding off the mandrel during the cutting off of the web. During the rotation of the mandrel 1, which has taken place continuously, the creases of the packing material web were made to coincide with the edges 12, 13, l4, of the mandrel and a possible sliding of the material web was corrected.

If the packing material web 16 is retained against the sides of the mandrel with the help of the driving means also after the cutting off of a blank, the packing material will be fed and cut off continuously.

The mandrel shown in FIGS. 1-6 has four sides, one side being dished so that a longer winding space, that is to say the length of packing material which is required for covering the side, should be obtained. The reason why a longer winding space is necessary is, that the package blank preferably comprises four plane surfaces 17, l8, 19, and one smaller surface 21, which is folded in the crease 22 against the edge region of the package wall 20 with the purpose of being sealed against the same, so as to form a longitudinal joint. Owing to the dished side 7 on the mandrel being given such a position that the space between the edge 12 and the knife 2 corresponds to the width of the wall 20, and that the space between the knife 2 and the edge 13 corresponds to the width of the wall 21, the cutting-off device 2 will cut off the packing material web so that a narrow surface 21 and a wider surface 20 are obtained.

The feeding mandrel may also have the shape shown in FIG. 8, where the dished side 7 is replaced by two plane sides, whose winding length between the edges of the mandrel corresponds to the width of the surfaces 20, 21. In this embodiment the knife must be applied to the region of the edge between the two plane sides 35, 36.

The appearance of the feeding mandrel may also be varied within the scope of the invention in such a manner that not all the creases of the web coincide with the edges of the mandrel, but for example only every other, which in certain cases is sufficient for the guiding of the web. In this form of realization a package blank is 4 wound up on half the mandrel, the mandrel being equipped appropriately with two knives which are situated diagonally opposite one another according to FIG. 9. Moreover the roller 8 is provided with two counterpresusre plates 9 which are applied directly opposite one another.

I claim:

1. A device for continuously feeding and cutting off predetermined lengths of a continuous web of packaging material having spaced, parallel, transverse creases therein comprising a rotatable mandrel provided with a plurality of outer faces each being parallel to the axis of rotation of said mandrel and having parallel transverse edges for engaging the transverse creases of that portion of the web which is in engagement with at least one face of said rotatable mandrel for feeding said web, at least one transverse cutting means disposed in at least one face of said mandrel and spaced from the transverse edges of said at least one face, and at least one counterpressure plate rotatable in synchronism with said mandrel about an axis parallel with theaxis of rotation of said mandrel so that said at least one counterpressure plate will cooperate with said at least one transverse cutting means to cut said web at predetermined locations along the length of the web after the web has been fed by said mandrel to the location of cooperation between said cutting means and said counterpressure plate.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising means for selectively applying suction to those faces of said mandrel which are in engagement with the web to prevent slippage thereon prior to cutting the web.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one face of said mandrel is curved circumferentially of said mandrel and in which one of said at least one transverse cutting means is disposed.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising a rotatable roller, said at least one counterpressure plate being mounted on said roller. 

1. A device for continuously feeding and cutting off predetermined lengths of a continuous web of packaging material having spaced, parallel, transverse creases therein comprising a rotatable mandrel provided with a plurality of outer faces each being parallel to the axis of rotation of said mandrel and having parallel transverse edges for engaging the transverse creases of that portion of the web which is in engagement with at least one face of said rotatable mandrel for feeding said web, at least one transverse cutting means disposed in at least one face of said mandrel and spaced from the transverse edges of said at least one face, and at least one counterpressure plate rotatable in synchronism with said mandrel about an axis parallel with the axis of rotation of said mandrel so that said at least one counterpressure plate will cooperate with said at least one transverse cutting means to cut said web at predetermined locations along the length of the web after the web has been fed by said mandrel to the location of cooperation between said cutting means and said counterpressure plate.
 2. A device as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising means for selectively applying suction to those faces of said mandrel which are in engagement with the web to prevent slippage thereon prior to cutting the web.
 3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one face of said mandrel is curved circumferentially of said mandrel and in which one of said at least one transverse cutting means is disposed.
 4. A device as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising a rotatable roller, said at least one counterpressure plate being mounted on said roller. 